An R—Fe—B based rare-earth sintered magnet, including an Nd2Fe14B type compound phase as a main phase, is known as a permanent magnet with the highest performance, and has been used in various types of motors such as a voice coil motor (VCM) for a hard disk drive and a motor for a hybrid car and in numerous types of consumer electronic appliances. When used in motors and various other devices, the R—Fe—B based rare-earth sintered magnet should exhibit thermal resistance that is high enough to withstand an operating environment at an elevated temperature.
The thermal resistance of an R—Fe—B based rare-earth sintered magnet can be increased by raising its coercivity. And as a means for increasing the coercivity of an R—Fe—B based rare-earth sintered magnet, a molten alloy, including a heavy rare-earth element RH as an additional element, may be used. According to this method, the light rare-earth element RL, which is included as a rare-earth element R in an R2Fe14B phase, is replaced with a heavy rare-earth element RH, and therefore, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (which is a decisive quality parameter that determines the coercivity) of the R2Fe14B phase improves. However, although the magnetic moment of the light rare-earth element RL in the R2Fe14B phase has the same direction as that of Fe, the magnetic moments of the heavy rare-earth element RH and Fe have mutually opposite directions. That is why the remanence Br would decrease in proportion to the percentage of the light rare-earth element RL replaced with the heavy rare-earth element RH.
Meanwhile, as the heavy rare-earth element RH is one of rare natural resources, its use is preferably cut down as much as possible. For these reasons, the method in which the light rare-earth element RL is entirely replaced with the heavy rare-earth element RH is not preferred.
To get the coercivity increased effectively with the addition of a relatively small amount of the heavy rare-earth element RH, it was proposed that an alloy or compound powder, including a lot of the heavy rare-earth element RH, be added to a main phase material alloy powder including a lot of the light rare-earth element RL and then the mixture be compacted and sintered. According to this method, the heavy rare-earth element RH is distributed a lot in the vicinity of the grain boundary of the R2Fe14B phase, and therefore, the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the R2Fe14B phase can be improved efficiently in the outer periphery (surface region) of the main phase grain. The R—Fe—B based rare-earth sintered magnet has a nucleation-type coercivity generating mechanism. That is why if a lot of the heavy rare-earth element RH is distributed in the outer periphery of the main phase (i.e., near the grain boundary thereof), the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of the entire crystal grain is improved, the nucleation of reverse magnetic domains can be interfered with, and the coercivity increases as a result. At the core of the crystal grains, no light rare-earth element RL is replaced with the heavy rare-earth element RH. Consequently, the decrease in remanence Br can be minimized there, too.
If this method were actually adopted, however, the heavy rare-earth element RH has an increased diffusion rate during the sintering process (which is carried out at a temperature of 1,000° C. to 1,200° C. on an industrial scale) and could diffuse to reach the core of the crystal grains, too. For that reason, it is not easy to obtain the expected crystal structure.
As another method for increasing the coercivity of an R—Fe—B based rare-earth sintered magnet, a metal, an alloy or a compound including a heavy rare-earth element RH is deposited on the surface of the sintered magnet and then thermally treated and diffused. Then, the coercivity could be recovered or increased without decreasing the remanence so much (see Patent Documents Nos. 1 to 5).
Patent Document No. 1 teaches forming a thin-film layer, including R′ that is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Nd, Pr, Dy, Ho and Tb on the surface of a sintered magnet body to be machined and then subjecting it to a heat treatment within either a vacuum or an inert atmosphere, thereby turning a deformed layer on the machined surface into a repaired layer through a diffusion reaction between the thin-film layer and the deformed layer and recovering the coercivity.
Patent Document No. 2 discloses that a metallic element R (which is at least one rare-earth element selected from the group consisting of Y, Nd, Dy, Pr, Ho and Tb) is diffused to a depth that is at least equal to the radius of crystal grains exposed on the uppermost surface of a small-sized magnet while the thin film is being deposited, thereby repairing the damage done on the machined surface and increasing (BH)max.
Patent Document No. 3 teaches providing a layer that has higher intrinsic coercivity than the core of the magnet body in the vicinity of the surface of a sintered magnet. Such a layer with high intrinsic coercivity may be formed by depositing a thin-film layer made of a material such as Tb, Dy, Al or Ga on the surface of a sintered magnet by sputtering, for example, and then diffusing that material into a surface region of the sintered magnet through a heat treatment.
Patent Document No. 4 discloses that a film including an element that is selected from the group consisting of Pr, Dy, Tb and Ho is deposited on the surface of an R—Fe—B based magnet by some physical method and then made to diffuse and permeate, thereby achieving high coercivity or high remanence.
Patent Document No. 5 discloses that by depositing a CVD film, consisting mostly of a rare-earth element, on the surface of a magnet with a thickness of 2 mm or less and then subjecting it to a heat treatment, the rare-earth element would diffuse inside the magnet, the machined and damaged layer in the vicinity of the surface could be repaired, and eventually the magnetic properties could be recovered.
Patent Document No. 6 discloses a method of sorbing a rare-earth element to recover the coercivity of a very small R—Fe—B based sintered magnet or its powder. According to the method of Patent Document No. 6, a sorption metal, which is a rare-earth metal such as Yb, Eu or Sm with a relatively low boiling point, and a very small R—Fe—B based sintered magnet or its powder are mixed together, and then the mixture is subjected to a heat treatment to heat it uniformly in a vacuum while stirring it up. As a result of this heat treatment, the rare-earth metal is not only deposited on the surface of the magnet but also diffused inward. Patent Document No. 6 also discloses an embodiment in which a rare-earth metal with a high boiling point such as Dy is sorbed. In such an embodiment that uses Dy, for example, Dy is selectively heated to a high temperature by an induction heating process. However, Dy has a boiling point of 2,560° C. According to Patent Document No. 6, Yb with a boiling point of 1,193° C. should be heated to a temperature of 800° C. to 850° C. but could not be heated sufficiently by normal resistance heating process. Considering this disclosure of Patent Document No. 6, it is presumed that the Dy be heated to a temperature exceeding 1,000° C. to say the least. Patent Document No. 6 also discloses that the temperature of the very small R—Fe—B based sintered magnet and its powder is preferably maintained within the range of 700° C. to 850° C.    Patent Document No. 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 62-074048    Patent Document No. 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-304038    Patent Document No. 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 1-117303    Patent Document No. 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-11973    Patent Document No. 5: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-285859    Patent Document No. 6: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-296973